Be wary of this guy on eBay (worth reading, I got screwed)

[bimmerphile]

PLEASE DO THE COMMUNITY A FAVOR AND DO NOT TRADE WITH THE EBAY USER M3POW

It appears that I, a user with 100+ feedback, have been swindled.

----
Cliff's Notes:
1) bought headlights, which arrived damaged
2) UPS denied claim due to inadequate packaging
3) Seller said send headlights back to get money back (yeah right)
4) Paypal denied claim because I got "something"
5) Seller ignored emails
6) SquareTrade case opened by me closed due to no activity from seller
7) eBay fraud claim filed
8) I left negative feedback, then did the seller.
----


It all started back in March with this auction for a set of US Ellipsoids:

(PDF of auction)

Everything went alright with the auction itself. I won, paid via PayPal, and he sent the items out via UPS ground. Upon their arrival, this is what I found:





Clearly, the condition of these headlights is quite different than those posted in the auction:






The headlights arrived in a completely destroyed condition. Potentially due to the ramshackle packaging job of broken pieces of vacuum foam and cardboard. The headlights just bounced around and smashed each other up.


This was a setback, but I have had items arrived damaged before, and am familiar with the UPS claims process. I emailed the seller, and he contacted UPS and replied with a claims number. I thought everything was going to work out.


At this time, the seller and I were in nearly daily contact via email. This quickly dropped to no contact when the situation turned sour.


UPS sent a claims agent to my house to inspect the damaged merchandise. However, the claims agent said he was pretty certain the insurance company would deny the claim. Why? Because it is the seller's responsibility to provide UPS with a well-packaged box. There were no damaging marks on the outside of the package, no smashed corners, no scuffs, and no indication that the package had been mishandled. Either the headlights were damaged due to m3pow's poor packaging, or the headlights sent were not the same ones in the auction.

It was at this point, that communication dropped.

More time passed, and at 29 days after the auction's end I filed a Buyer Protection claim with PayPal. PayPal reviewed the claim, and then denied it. Their reasoning, and a very important note I think all eBay buyers should know: PayPal does not cover any merchandise that is damaged. PayPal only reimburses you when either 1) No item ever arrives or 2) The item that arrives is COMPLETELY different than the item bought. Even though the damage wasn't UPS's fault. Very peculiar.


m3pow sends me an email requesting his headlights back. This leaves me with absolutely nothing (at least I could attempt to fix the damage and replace the lenses). I decide it's not the wisest idea, and decide to get a SquareTrade moderator involved to help this process.

At this point, I am becoming quite scared that I will never see my $154.50 back, and may potentially not even have some headlights. As a college student in the middle of my Spring semester (Read: Long time since previous summer's employment), this was a big deal. I open the SquareTrade case, and anxiously await m3pow's response so that we may take care of this matter in a completely objective way.

His response never comes. SquareTrade closes the case due to inactivity.

By this time, I am getting very upset that he has taken my money and ran. Not only has he ignored emails from myself and SquareTrade, but I get no response from the phone number listed with eBay.

I decide the next best course of action is to file a fraud complaint. I do so, and continue to wait. And wait. And wait.

There is no response from him. While I still can, I decide to leave him negative feedback so that other eBay users can be warned of his activity:

(-)  Fraud Claim Filed, awaiting investigation. All I wanted was my money, thief. F--

And his reply came very shortly:

(-) Unwilling to cooperate with UPS claim, not recommended buyer..

Obviously, this is not the case as UPS has documented coming to my house and inspecting the package. I did everything in my power to cooperate.

My rebuttal:

You like to LIE, I see. UPS Denied YOU the claim, after inspecting YOUR poor pkg

And with that, we are up-to-date with today. Out of courtesy, I send him one final email:

xxxxx,

This will be the last time I contact you without your response. I have filed a fraud claim with eBay, and have provided all necessary documentation to have your account under review. I have contacted your local police department to let them know of the situation at hand. Between the two of us, everything has been done as we have both left each other negative feedback. I like to think people are, good, in general, however your lack of ethics in previous communication are causing me to reconsider my position. To avoid legal action, please send me the total amount of $154.50.


Regards,


Kris Olson

and his reply:

Kris,
 
  File all the fraud claims you want I did nothing wrong. At one point I had told you to send me the headlights back to me and you never did. I don't appreciate you calling me a thief and a fraud. Good luck with you investigation.
 
Regards,
 
xxxxx...

(Interesting that he decided to respond now after months of no communication.)

To which I respond:

xxxxx,

I specified, and was advised by UPS to not send them back to you until I got my money, as there was no guarantee I would ever get anything back. I opened the SquareTrade case (which is still on file), in order to avoid conflict and have a mediated, objective discussion of the situation; however the case was suspended due to inactivity when you never replied. I am only doing what I can to protect myself. I truly wanted to avoid this as the end result.


-Kris Olson

And then, this:

kris,
 
Send me back the headlights and I will refund you your money, you have my word...
 
xxxxx.

The question is now this, do I send him back the headlights for the $154.50 based on his word (this will cost me $25 to ship too), or do I continue the fraud claim process (which has a $25 processing fee).

Neither are guaranteed to work, and this situation has definitely put me in a pickle. I would love to be able to send him back the headlights, get the money, and have us both agree to remove our feedback via SquareTrade, but how likely is that to happen?


Your advice and comments are appreciated.

-Kris

[parkerbink]

Sorry you had a nightmare. My experience with ebay mediating has been 100% negative. They only want your money (read seller's fees) I would not send him the headlights as he has shown he is not to be trusted. I would follow through with legal and fraud action.

You know he can mistreat you why would he change now?

My 2cents

[decay]

i don't know if you can get an escrow company involved cheap enough for it to be worthwhile (meaning <$150), but it's the first thought that comes to my mind.

[bmwannabe]

how far apart do you live? Maybe you could meet his ass or something. lol. i got fucked too, i was sold a set of rims (BBS) but only got one.

[Jon325i]

Kris-

This guy sounds like a bastard at best.....and now he wants you to return the headlights for a refund? After reading your detailed breakdown of events, I wouldn't trust this guy as far as I could throw him. I understand you are a student with limited funds (been there too my friend....I know how it feels), but I wouldn't risk loosing anymore than you already have. In other words, kiss your money good bye and hold onto these lights. At the very least you could repair them and try unloading them later on to regain some (if not all) of your expenses.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. This is another great example of buyer beware.

Kris Olsen >>> :P <<< Bastard from E-Bay

Jon

[bimmerphile]

Kris-

This guy sounds like a bastard at best.....and now he wants you to return the headlights for a refund? After reading your detailed breakdown of events, I wouldn't trust this guy as far as I could throw him. I understand you are a student with limited funds (been there too my friend....I know how it feels), but I wouldn't risk loosing anymore than you already have. In other words, kiss your money good bye and hold onto these lights. At the very least you could repair them and try unloading them later on to regain some (if not all) of your expenses.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. This is another great example of buyer beware.

Kris Olsen >>> :P <<< Bastard from E-Bay

Jon

Good point, Jon. I guess I could always post this on BF.c too (where I'm pretty sure he's a member).


As far as where he lives, it's in MA. There's no way we could have a cup of coffee and talk this over.

-Kris

[modifiede30]

I'd suggest you tell him to refund the money and you'll ship them back. That's what you had to do for him to ship them to you. Trust works both ways ya know.

[bimmerphile]

I'd suggest you tell him to refund the money and you'll ship them back. That's what you had to do for him to ship them to you. Trust works both ways ya know.

Yeah, tried that. Wouldn't work.

[modifiede30]

I'd continue with your current actions through ebay and paypal.

Also, can anything be done with what you received - repaired maybe. If not, you might as well ship them back to see if he really does refund the money. Sounds like either way, you're not getting anything unless they go back. If you send them back, you can still pursue the legal route if he doesn't go through with the refund. It also gives you more weight since you followed through with his request to return them for a refund. If they don't go back, ebay/paypal may find you both going against what you said you'd do and they may do nothing.

[parkerbink]

Either way ebay does nothing. How did you pay? if you went through a cc or debit card on paypal you have recourse through your bank/cc company. I would file a claim with them. I have gotten my money back that way.

[bimmerphile]

Either way ebay does nothing. How did you pay? if you went through a cc or debit card on paypal you have recourse through your bank/cc company. I would file a claim with them. I have gotten my money back that way.

Directly out of my paypal/bank account. No insurance there :-/

[parkerbink]

Washington Mutual (my bank) refunded 40.00 paid that way (once) and didn't once maybe you will get lucky? Answers no if you don't ask.

[bimmerphile]

[quote="parkerbink"]Washington Mutual (my bank) refunded 40.00 paid that way (once) and didn't once maybe you will get lucky? Answers no if you don't ask.[/quote

WaMu is my bank too. That's helpful info. I'll give them a call.

[modifiede30]

File a case with paypal and your bank. When you processed the paypal payment, did it go through your account or from your debit card? Debit cards have insurance like credit cards. Also, your bank should have some insurance on your account for this type of issue.

[parkerbink]

[quote="bimmerphile"]

Washington Mutual (my bank) refunded 40.00 paid that way (once) and didn't once maybe you will get lucky? Answers no if you don't ask.[/quote

WaMu is my bank too. That's helpful info. I'll give them a call.

Hope it works glad I could be of service!